RIAs Gaining Ground, But Wires More Productive

RIAs may be the fastest growing channel, but despite the recent billion-dollar breakaway teams going independent, wirehouse advisors are still more productive.

The wirehouses employ a total of 54,189 advisors, but manage $6 trillion in client assets, according to Aite Group’s 2014 Wealth Management report. Meanwhile there are 58,112 independent RIAs, but they only oversee $2.3 trillion in client assets—less than half of the assets held by the big brokerage firms.

Overall, the RIA channel saw the biggest growth in client assets from 2012 to 2013, but every single channel overall saw double digit growth—the first time since the financial crisis, Aite reports.

But before the wirehouses breathe a sigh of relief, Aite predicts that from 2014 to 2017, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Wells Fargo will experience a slow erosion of their market share.